No, Google, I do not mean “fabulous”.

It’s not often I come across a word I can’t find the meaning of in any of my dictionaries — not that I have a bookcase full of dictionaries or anything. But I do have the basics: an Oxford and a Websters. Plus a pocket dictionary or two, and an iPhone dictionary app which will do at a pinch. But alas and alack, none of these resources were helping me with this particular word. And, not surprisingly, the MS Word online dictionaries were coming up a big fat blank as well.

So, as you do when you’re desperate, I resorted to Google. And I input a pretty standard search: “fabular, meaning of”.

So what did I get? Only Google at its most helpful: “Showing results for fabulous“.

Anyway, after a bit of mucking round — namely, finally thinking to click on the second link Google had provided (which just happened to be an option to “search instead” with my original search parameters… duh!) — I hit gold.

Which brings me to the Word of the Week….

Fabular. As in: “We’re a fabular people, defined by the whims of their lore and their tales.” (The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff)

Sure, I can easily figure out the meaning of “fabular” from the context, but I’m curious enough to want to know its exact meaning and its origin. So here’s the Merriam-Webster online dictionary definition:

FABULAR: noun – of, or relating to, or having the form of a fable. (First known use: 1684)

How cool is that? Coming across a word I’ve never seen or heard before, and that was first officially recorded as being used in 1684, in a contemporary YA story published in 2010? (Sorry. I’m easily thrilled. What can I say?)

Mmmm. I think I need to buy me a Merriam-Webster dictionary to add to the bookcase, STAT.

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